Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½ or Bastard!
"Dialogue"
((Thoughts))
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Ranma felt very weird as of late, it started about a week after his mother found out about the curses of him and his father. He actually started to notice his fiancées in a very special way. Of course he knew that his fiancées were all very pretty but somehow it didn't matter very much for him. Now this was different and Ranma didn't know what to think of it. Quite frankly, he was horny as hell and didn't know what to do about it. Well, he knew what he could do but that would lead him to get married on the spot.
"Maybe all three girls at once..." he said and then shook his head in denial, ((Where did that thought come from?))
"Did you say something, Ranma?" asked Akane, who was sitting next to him
The pigtailed boy blinked and looked around himself, everyone at the dinner table was looking at him weirdly. He gulped slightly and replied, "Nothing, I was just thinking out loud."
They all looked at him for another second and then returned to eating. Ranma held a relieved sigh back and started to devour his food as well. That was a close brush with death. If Akane had caught what he said, he would have ended as a pulp under her mallet.
Ranma finished his meal faster than normal and excused himself from the table. He went outside and jumped onto the rooftop, where he lay down and stared at the clear sky. The pigtailed boy had to get away from the three Tendo sisters, unless he wanted to go crazy. The sun was just setting, bathing everything in an orangish hue. It calmed his mind down and before long he was drifting into a deep slumber.
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Ranma's dream...
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A young man was sitting in an empty and dark cell. The walls, the ceiling and even the floor were made of metal, which made the room unbelievably cold. He was huddled up in a corner and his wrists were bound together by chains of energy. He was also naked and several tubes were attached to his body. He didn't remember how long he had been in the darkness, only that he was much bigger now than when he first woke up there.
All of a sudden the room was flooded with light, which blinded him instantly and sent a searing pain through his brain. He pressed himself further into the corner, desperately trying to hide himself. He barely noticed that the tubes that were attached to him for all his life were ripped out of his body. And maybe for the first time, he heard another voice than his own,
"He came along nicely, don't you think?"
"Yes, finally we have something that can fight the Anthrax, if she gets out of control." said another elderly male voice
The third man in the room said nothing and after a moment of staring at the white-haired teenage boy in the corner, he turned around and left.
"What's with him?"
"I have no idea, maybe it has something to do with him being human." replied the man, then he looked at their project, "Come here, boy."
The teenager didn't do anything though, just stared at them.
"Tss..." he pulled a remote control out of his robes and pushed a button, suddenly the bonds of the boy gave off an intense energy, which made the boy arch his back in pain. His mouth was opened in a silent scream of agony.
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End of the dream...
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"Airen, wake up! You have bad dream!" said a familiar voice
Ranma sat up with a start, his whole body was covered in a cold sweat and his breathing was ragged. His body was shaking and his eyes were wide and raced from side to side. He was pulled into a hug and heard someone whisper soothing words to him.
It took him almost a full minute to calm back down again and once he did he actually took notice that someone was hugging him. Ranma turned his head slightly to see who it was, he was a little surprised when he saw purple hair.
"Shampoo?"
"You okay now?" asked the girl worriedly
"Yeah, thanks..." replied Ranma and broke out of her hug so that he could look at her
"What is bad dream about? Is Neko-ken training?" said Shampoo, her great-grandmother told her that it could leave very deep scars in the mind of the trainee
"No... It was worse... I think."
Her eyes widened, "Worse?"
He nodded, "I can't remember what it was about though. Umm... what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
She blushed slightly, "Just wanted to visit..."
"You wanted to sneak into my futon again, didn't you?" asked Ranma with smile, somehow it didn't bother him as much as it did just a few months ago
"... ..."
"Don't worry, I'm not angry."
She blinked in surprise, "You not?"
"Of course not, why should I be?"
"So... Shampoo can sleep with Airen?" she asked hopefully
"Huh? Hell, no! Akane would kill me if she saw us!"
"Oh..."
Seeing the disappointed look on Shampoo's face, Ranma could do nothing but feel guilty, "Well... okay but you have to go before anyone else wakes up."
"Ranma really mean it?"
"Yeah, now come." he motioned her to follow him as he jumped down from the roof. Ranma lead the two of them expertly through the dark house and reached his room, where a big panda was already snoring away. Without saying anything the pigtailed boy undressed until he was only wearing a white undershirt and a pair of boxers.
Shampoo in the meanwhile looked at Ranma's father with a frown, "How Airen sleep near so loud noise?"
"Practice." replied Ranma with a shrug as he rolled his futon out, "I traveled over ten years together with Oyaji, remember?"
"Right... still..."
"You're worried if you can get any sleep?"
The girl nodded agreement, her great-grandmother put her on take-out duty tomorrow and even though she was not very easy to tire out, it was still a pretty hard job.
"Okay then..." he walked over to Genma and kicked him in the side, this caused him to roll over onto his stomach. It silenced the snoring by quite a margin to Shampoo's relief. Ranma went back to his futon and lay down; he then looked at the purple-haired girl with a raised eyebrow, "You coming?"
"One moment..." said Shampoo and took of her clothes, revealing that she didn't have any kinds of underwear. There was not even the slightest hint of shame on her face.
"Uhm... Shampoo?"
"What?" she started walking over to him
"Are you sure, you want to sleep like this?" asked Ranma nervously, ((What the hell is wrong with me? If anyone catches me with a naked Shampoo in the middle of the night, I'm going to get killed! Well... only mom would be pretty happy about it, I guess.))
The young Amazon looked down at herself in puzzlement, "What wrong? Shampoo always sleep like that."
"It's just..." he looked at her again and gave up, she wouldn't understand it anyway, "Nothing, hop in."
Shampoo did just that and was soon cuddled up against him under the covers, she had a content smile on her lips and her eyes were closed. She really had no other intentions than to actually sleep here. The girl treated Ranma as if he was a giant teddy bear.
The before mentioned boy on the other hand was wide awake and stared at the ceiling. He tried not to think about his Chinese fiancée, who was pressed up against him, ((Cologne, Happosai, Cologne, Happosai, Cologne, Happosai... Cologne and Happosai going naked through the Kama Sutra...))
Ranma shuddered violently at the last thought and made an effort to keep his gagging reflex down. That had been a tad bit on the disturbing side, almost traumatic to tell the truth. He closed his eyes and after almost an hour of distracting himself from Shampoo, he finally knocked himself out with a punch to the head.
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The next morning...
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Ranma woke up to the sound of a splash and a loud growl. The martial artist sat up and looked to the side, to see a rather surprised looking Akane standing in the doorway and a confused, wet panda. He on the other hand was completely dry and somehow switched places with his father, as weird as it was.
"Heh... thanks Shampoo." whispered Ranma and then waved at Akane cheerfully, "Good morning, Akane! Should have known that you throw the water without even looking who's there."
He stood up, took a fresh set of clothes and walked past the two stunned people before they even had a chance to react. Ranma then went to the bathroom; he put his fresh clothes to the side and took off his underwear. He sat down on a small stool and splashed himself with cold water, which turned him promptly into his cursed form. Ranma scrubbed herself off with a lathered up towel and then splashed herself again to wash the soap away.
The red-head then entered the furo and let out a relaxed sigh as the she turned back into her male form. He sat down into the hot water and leaned his head back, enjoying the warmth.
((Man... that feels good... I really shouldn't have hit myself so hard but Shampoo is really... Now that I think about it, why was she there anyway? The last time she did that was months ago...)) contemplated Ranma and then sank a little deeper into the water, ((Maybe because of that damn ghost c-c-cat that abducted her.))
Ranma stayed in the water for almost half an hour, he was already feeling a little dizzy from all the heat. He slowly stood up, careful not to make any sudden moves. Once he left the furo, he took one of the large towels that Kasumi prepared every morning and dried himself off.
The cursed boy then proceeded to get dressed, only to blink in confusion after he was finished, "Where the hell do these clothes come from?"
He was wearing a white T-shirt with torn off sleeves, a pair of black jeans and a black leather belt with a buckle that had the initials D.S. engraved on it, "Maybe mom bought them? I'll ask her later..."
Ranma walked out of the bathroom and lazily made his way to the living room where Nabiki was sitting on the couch. It was Saturday so they didn't have to worry about school, "Morning, Nabiki. What are you watching?"
She didn't look away from the TV, "Slayers NEXT."
"What is it about?"
This time she did look at Ranma, he never showed any interest for watching anime or television overall. Nabiki was even more surprised when she saw the clothes he was wearing; they were unlike anything he ever wore before. They looked completely normal and she had to admit, they suited him pretty well.
"Hello, Nabiki?" interrupted Ranma "I asked you something."
"Just watch it, it's the first episode. You'll get into it." said Nabiki as she concentrated on the show, "Just to warn you, Slayers is not about martial arts but magic."
He shrugged and plopped down next to her, "Doesn't matter."
Almost an hour later, Slayers had a new fan. They showed two episodes and Ranma found himself entranced by the medieval world full of magic and monsters. It was all very familiar to him, which he found a little weird. Nabiki ignored him mostly and even went back to her room after the first episode; she watched the show before and only wanted to pass some time.
He turned the TV off and was about to leave the room, when Kasumi walked inside. Once she saw him a smile appeared on her face, "There you are, Ranma! I've been searching for you."
"Huh? What is it?"
"Father called for you. I think he wants to show you something in his room."
"Really? I hope its important." mumbled Ranma as he strolled past the girl, "Thanks for telling me, by the way."
"No need to thank me."
Ranma soon reached Soun's room and opened the sliding door. What he saw there made him stop in his tracks, Akane was kneeling on the ground and she was wearing a traditional wedding kimono, her eyes were closed and she had a peaceful look on her face. Soun and Nodoka and Genma were sitting next to her.
"Say Ranma, how do you like her?" exclaimed Soun; tears were running down his face
"Akane is such a beautiful little bride, the only thing that missing now to make her happy is you." said Ranma's mother cheerfully
"Err... wha...?" muttered Ranma perplexed
Now he was assaulted by all the adults, first was Mr. Tendo, "Ranma, you found your mother again, what luck!"
Then his father, "To heaven on earth only marriage is missing now!"
"B-but... this is all happening so fast... you can't just..."
"Don't you want her, Ranma?" added Nodoka, she sounded worried
(('Want' her? In certain way, yes... Marry her... hell, no!)) thought Ranma, "Don't you think this is all a little bit rushed?"
That was when Akane opened her eyes, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!"
"Shit! She woke up!" said Genma
"I thought we knocked her out." muttered Soun with a frown
"What is this about?" growled Akane angrily as she looked down at herself, "To dress me like some kind of doll...?"
Ranma interrupted her, "But it looks good on you, Akane."
"What?" said the girl, she stared at him flatly
"A kimono looks always good on fat women." explained Ranma matter-of-factly
"If you say it, it must be true..." stated Akane and then punted him through the roof with a vicious uppercut, "What else should someone expect from you!"
Ranma flew almost across half the town before he landed head first on a roof, "Man... she's really in a bad mood..."
That was when he noticed a gigantic swarm of crows; there must have been over a hundred of these birds. He stood up from his upside down position to get a better look and gasped when he saw that the crows were chasing a small girl, who must have been only seven or eight years old.
"Aiyah! This is end of dishonorable life!" shouted the running girl, as she covered her head with her arms.
Without thinking Ranma jumped from the roof and picked the girl up, along with some gravel from a nearby construction zone. He stopped and turned around, throwing the small stones skillfully at the heads of the feathered animals, holding them off for the moment.
"Raha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa!"
"What!" Ranma looked up to see where that laugh came from and saw something he didn't expect, a dark-skinned teenage boy with black wings and bird-like talons instead of hands and feet.
"Give us the girl!" shouted the half-bird
"Like I'm that stupid!" yelled Ranma back and pushed the child behind him protectively. Just in time he heard a strange sound coming from behind him, he took the girl in his arms again and jumped out of the way of a hail of sharp-looking feathers that stuck the sidewalk instead of him.
"Ki hi hi hi hi hi hi!"
"Damn, another one! Fight fair, you cowards!" growled Ranma at the winged boy with the tiger-striped feathers
Ranma ran down the street, trying to escape the two flying boys. The girl was clinging to him like her life depended on it, it probably did anyway. He rounded the next corner and saw to his relieve someone who could help him.
"Ryoga!"
"Oh? Ranma?" mumbled Ryoga surprised as turned his head away from the clouded sky
"Catch!" shouted Ranma and threw the girl at his rival
"Aiyah!" cried the child as she landed in the other boy's arms
"Huh?" said Ryoga as he held the girl, his eyes widened when Ranma was abruptly pulled up into the air by a black-winged thing
The pigtailed boy tried desperately to free himself from the hold the bird-boy had on him but could do nothing as he was slowly strangled by a talon. Just then his curse as a water magnet kicked in and everyone was drenched by a heavy downpour.
"Argh!" yelled Ranma as she came crashing down onto the street, she held her throat and coughed several times as she finally could breath again, ((Why am I free?))
The red-haired girl looked around and what she saw shocked her, the two boys from before lost all of their bird traits and appeared to be normal humans now, "...?"
"Damn it..." cursed the dark-skinned boy as he stood up from the ground
"If it hadn't started to rain, we would have won!" added the other one
"They turned into humans when the cold water hit them..." muttered Ranma
"The fight's not finished yet, you stupid transvestite!" exclaimed the two boys at the same time
((Transvestite...?)) Ranma narrowed her eyes and gave her two opponents a throughout beating, she was soon joined by the small girl, who had a little black pig on her shoulder. It didn't take long before both boys were unconscious, ((...Seems that they're wimps without their bird bodies...))
After the child was finished with beating her pursuers, she took P-chan into her arms and turned towards Ranma, who gave the knocked out pair one last kick, "Honored Customer! You save me from great danger!"
Ranma looked at her dumbly, "Did you just say customer?"
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Later that day, Nekohanten...
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It was already night when Ranma, P-chan and the girl reached the Cat Café. It took them so long thanks to the pig getting lost several times on their trip. And since the child said that everyone who was cursed by Jusenkyo should hear what she had to say, Ranma had to go search for him.
Now all of them were sitting in the restaurant, along with Shampoo and Mousse. The girl was eating ramen and Ranma and Ryoga had their normal forms again.
"What?" was shouted by all of the teenagers, "The daughter of the Jusenkyo Guide?"
"Name is Plum." explained the girl further, "News I bring is not very nice, Honored Customers."
"Never thought that he would have a daughter..." said Ranma, completely ignoring Plum
"That would mean that he is married... what things there are on the world..." muttered Ryoga disbelievingly
"She has luck... not look like him." stated Shampoo
"And what if it's a demon that took the form of a small girl?" questioned Mousse suspiciously
"These people not very nice." said Plum dryly
"Son-in-Law, you said that these two creatures that pursued you turned to humans through the cold water?"
"Do you know more about them?" asked Ranma seriously
She narrowed her eyes, "It could be that these two are inhabitants of the legendary Mount Phoenix."
"Inhabitants of Mt. Phoenix?" repeated Ranma, "People that look like birds?"
"Is true." confirmed Plum, "I bring ancient map, very important secret of Jusenkyo. Phoenix tribe want it."
"Why don't you just give it to them?" asked the pigtailed martial artist
"If they get map, all springs of Jusenkyo will dry up. Is very tragic!"
"WHAT?" screamed all of the cursed teenagers
"Cologne, tell us more about these bird guys!" said Ranma rather forcefully
"Very well, Son-in-Law. In the Chinese province Quinghai lies the Bayankala mountain range... South of Mount Kensei that rules over the Jusenkyo springs is Mount Phoenix. And it is told that on the mountain is another cursed spring."
"Another cursed spring...?" questioned Ranma
"The legend says that the spring is on the unreachable top of the mountain, which is why only birds could drink out of it. The inhabitants of Mount Phoenix used the water for generations and with time they started to grow wings and other bird-like traits."
"You mean that they normally look like monsters?" asked the son of Nodoka thoughtfully, "Say Plum, why do they want to dry out Jusenkyo?"
"No time to ask them." replied the girl
"Hmmm..." muttered Ryoga as he started to walk through the room, he held his umbrella
"Ryoga?"
"Bird-people or not, we have to get rid of them to save the springs." said the bandanna-clad boy coldly and then suddenly threw his umbrella into a dividing wall, "Hah! I saw you!"
"What! They're here!" exclaimed Mousse, as he and Ranma jumped up from the table
"We're here, idiot!" came from the front door as it was opened
"You know... your sense of direction is getting worse. We're not even outside." said Ranma as he pointed at the Phoenix people.
At least Ryoga had the dignity to blush before he turned around to look at their new guests. There were three of them, the two boys from before and a tall silver-haired woman, who had an icy look on her face. The two males were in human form.
"I am Kima from Mount Phoenix."
"Korma." said the black-haired boy
"Masala." said the other one
"Thanks that you led us here, you can go now." said Kima to a pair of owls on the outside
"So, you came here on your own." said Ryoga as he cracked his knuckles
"That'll make things easier." added Ranma with a smile
"Ku, ku... I almost think that you won't give us the map of Jusenkyo freely..."
"Exactly!" confirmed Ranma, his smile turned into a smirk, "But if you search for the shortest way to the hospital, I think we can help you!"
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To be continued...
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